Clownfish wont eat, stays at the bottom, and has a mangled fin?

[WrasseMan89]

I have 2 clowns, they were about the same size when I got them but one was just slightly bigger than the other. Today I go to feed them and I noticed the slightly bigger one has a mangled fin and stays in one spot. I thought maybe it's just normal aggression between the two but only one is eating. They are the only inhabitants right now so I'm not sure what happened. Will they be ok or does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Naekuh]

The bigger one is transitioning to a female.
The smaller one will either accept it, or die.

There is no way to reverse this unless you remove the transitioning female.

 

[WrasseMan89]

The bigger one is transitioning to a female.
The smaller one will either accept it, or die.

There is no way to reverse this unless you remove the transitioning female.

Should I just let it play out to see if they will work or remove the smaller one and wait til the other is bigger to introduce another?

 

[Naekuh]

nope, if you introduce a new clown it is the beginning of a lottery.

As for removing the smaller one... if you see no hope, and its not eatting, yes.
Let the smaller one go in a observation cage for a bit to give it some alone time.

But the bigger one, once fully female, it will repeat the cycle all over again, and the smaller one will either have to accept her, or be killed by her.

Sorry there is no nice way for clowns, there's always that one Karen that needs to own the hosting site when you deal with clowns.

 

[twentyleagues]

So its the bigger one that is mangled? Thats not normal. Wonder if the smaller one was already female and the bigger started transitioning? That would be an issue for sure.

 

[Naekuh]

oh wait i missed that its the bigger one...
But you still got a transitioning clown, and they are fighting for dominance.

 

[Jekyl]

Jumping to conclusions here. Can we have some white light photos and a short video? How long have you had the fish? Were they quarantined?

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